Took me a while to finally find the turning point with these guys. I think all the trail breaking is what helped tire them the most...We took a run yesterday for 15 miles and broke out a LOT of trail... 7.5 miles to be exact! About 3 miles we only half broke it out since the dogs were able to run well in a four wheeler track while the sled plowed the rest of the snow under the bed plastic.
The other 4.5 miles was extremely virgin snow and looked to have been used this summer heavily by a four wheeler. That was the tricky patch that called for even more work from the dogs as we got caught in the ruts time and again but we all did amazingly well.
The first few miles at the start were nicely groomed by another musher... normally I would have liked this if my team wasn't so fresh and strong. In years past I delighted in snowmachines packing down the trail, it was a great help to my team, but this year its been more of a burden! The snow still isn't packed enough to set a hook and the new packed trail really excited the dogs and had them moving really fast! I was heavily on my drag for at least the first five miles...I hooked in Hermes and Thani early (the ones who are usually loose at the start) and that boosted our power even more. When we stopped it was mandatory to tie off to a tree as Thani needs to brush up on his 'stay' command. I caught him lunging into his harness more than once and that started getting the others going. I can see that all the dogs are muscling and shaping up really nice but I have to keep on them to maintain the level of control I have, especially while the snow isn't at its best.
When we got off the packed trail and on to the one that hasn't been traveled yet it was a HUGE relief! They slowed down a little bit, that was enough for me to relax, but they still gave a few surprises when they picked up speed again through a few sections of unbroken trail.I had left the bag of dog food behind to reduce the weight in case our trail was really bad but Gaea had to ride most of the time so that helped give us something extra to pull. On our next run I will certainly be carrying the dog food and maybe a few extra things!
Reba and Juno (especially Reba) well earned their Pathfinder status this trip. With all the rain we had this summer the grass grew so tall and made it very tough to find the trail. As soon as we were off the main trail I could see Reba's memory kick in as she led us through like a pro, calculating and recalculating where the trail should be.
Technically we didn't do much exploration but most of the trail was looking like we were on search and rescue. If it hadn't been for our travels last year and knowing these old trails we could have easily gotten lost.When we got back to the truck it was really nice to see all the dogs standing around waiting for their boxes. Most were on their feet but I could see they were all very tired.
At one point I turned around to see Thani flat out on his side, legs out quietly resting in the snow. He had clearly given up on me to load him in the truck while I was busy unharnessing the others and taking a few extra moments out to love on these beautiful hard working dogs. Seeing him like that immediately invited my attention so I rubbed him down and tried to ignore his brother Boreas who was standing over wanting some of that attention too.
I cant possibly describe this run... it was simply amazing. The fast trail, breaking trail, the hard work we all did and achieving all these miles so early in the season. I haven't felt this amazing since I learned how to mush for the first time!These new pups combined with all the years Ive been learning the sport (10+) is coming together in ways I hadn't considered possible before... its simply amazing!
Total miles = 15
Max speed = 17 mph
Moving average = 7 mph
Time moving = 2 hours
Time stopped = 30 min
Team = 9 dogs
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